Whats the purpose of communicating with the saints in heaven when we can go directly to Jesus. Jesus says whatever you ask my Father in my name it shall be granted to you. We have a direct line of communication with our Heavenly Father.
Of course we have. That’s basic.
As we can & must rely on God for all good, why bother with love of neighbour ? With reading the Bible ? With going to Church ? Praying for others ? Obeying our consciences ? Taken to its logical conclusion, we could lie back in bed all our lives & do absolutely nothing at all - because God is always far better at doing His work, than we are at obeying Him.
Why communicate with the saints ? Because the lesser love is not cancelled by the greater, but is wholly dependent on it. And as Christ Himself intercedes for us, what is the basis for denying that His saints heaven do so ? Don’t they obey His Will ? Do they do their own instead of His ? Do they not hunger & thirst for His Glory & the Coming of His Kingdom, as in Heaven, so also on earth ?
Or do they have no care at all for His interests ? If they are His in any sense, it is impossible that they should not burn with longing that His Will should be done in His own Church. If that longing has been possible for men on earth to live by, so that they have counted all things well lost for His sake, the zeal & longing of the Blessed Who see God face to face cannot be weaker. And to long for the Will of God to be fully realised in all things, even the very least, in His Church, includes desiring the salvation of all in the Church - & to desire it, would be idle if it were not a spur to action. To long for the salvation of all in the Church, must be what they desire, because it is desired by Christ.
That He does desire it, most ardently, is proved by His High Priestly intercession in Heaven, by His prayer on earth, by His “gifts to men”, by His Death, & by all things that are His - that is just a few. That those whom He has given His own Sonship to, redeemed entirely, saved to the uttermost, showered with His grace, for whom He has abolished death, trodden satan underfoot, died the death of the Cross, made members of His own Body, made kings & priests & seated on his throne, should not both have & do His Will, is incredible. It is not able to believed
Because He has & does & gives all these things (& so much more as well), it follows that the saints are heaven take a very close interest in us who are on earth, not (of course) primarily for our sake, but for His Who is Our Lord & theirs. His acts are fruitful - they have results, for good. So if He is the Saviour, His salvation in rich in life-giving effects. What the Bible says in no single verse, it says if all are taken together - we know the saints pray for us, because this is the Christ Who is their Life & ours. And this Christ, is described to us in all the passages & verses hinted at: Scripture itself provides many (all ?) of the* data* for the Catholic belief. ##
